Forum - View topicDoes Shinji Ikari have Oedipus complex?
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Zauriel
 Posts: 22 Location: Philippines |
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Does Shinji have Oedipus complex?
Are you familiar with the Greek tale of Oedipus? In the tale, Oedipus killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus complex applies to men who either hate their fathers or love their mothers. Shinji hates his father a lot and he loves his mother so much he misses her. Shinji is bitter and sometimes angry at his father for not looking after him and for ignoring him. spoiler[Shinji even wanted to kill his father, Genda Ikari for using him to kill his classmate Touji Suzuhara, another one of the Unit pilots. In the manga, Touji was dead, killed by Shinji's own hand manipulated by Genda Ikari. In the anime, Touji was wounded but alive after clash but Genda-puppeteered Shinji] Shinji has feelings for Rei who happens to be a clone of his mother. |
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one3rd
 Posts: 1818 Location: アメリカ |
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I wouldn't go as far as saying that Shinji has feelings for Rei. Rei is kind of the "weird quiet girl" and anyone might be intrigued by what might be inside that wall.
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The Ramblin' Wreck
 Posts: 924 Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love |
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Oh yes, Odeipus Complex. Gave me one of my favorite quotes:
"And finally, was Freud right? Do our children really want to kill us all? " |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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*sigh*
Come now, at least look up the definition of "Oedipus complex" before you start theorizing. spoiler[Shinji can't have an "Oedipus complex" for Rei, since Rei (while a clone) is not his mother, and more importantly: Shinji has no idea of the genetic relationship. And the genetic relationship is not in itself enough to trigger a complex. Psychological complexes don't base themselves in the genetics, they base themselves in the psychosexual development of the individual psyche. For Shinji to develop a complex, he'd have to know of the relationship. Similarly, Oedipus, the mythical figure for whom the complex is named did not have an Oedipus complex - since he did not know that the woman he took to wife was his mother, and the man he killed was his father. Not until too late, that is - at which point, he reacted in an excess of remorse that counterindicates the existence of a complex of that sort. Freud just hijacked his name (see Freud's Introductory Lectures, no. 21) to fit his complex. So, the other half of the complex... the desire to kill the father. There can be no doubt that Shinji hates his father, as much as he loves him. But I doubt that any murderous urges are related to a maternal bond and oedipal jealousy. On the contrary, I'd regard any urge to kill Ikari Gendou as a healthy response to the circumstances, given Gendou's character.] "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." - abunai |
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The Ramblin' Wreck
Posts: 924 Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love |
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Thanks for the insights. I could only stand the Freud that we had to read for Political Philosophy. After The Clash Of Civilizations, that was enough for me.
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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You mean Civilization and its Discontents. Or were you referring to Huntington's use (and abuse) of Freud in The Clash of Civilizations? - abunai |
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mrgazpacho
Posts: 316 Location: Australia |
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LOL! But on Shinji's feelings about Rei, spoiler[ he definitely says at one stage that she "reminds him of his mother". It seems that he has some subconscious supernatural psychic knowledge of the connection between Yui and Rei ], even if this is never made a vital part of the plot. |
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SuperOnizuka
 Posts: 421 Location: When I look At the World- New Jersey |
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The deal with Frued's theory on the Oedipal complex is that the son, at the age between 3-6, is when those feelings occur. The son only wants to kill the father because he wants the attention and love from the mother. But if the father is in the picture, the son has the father to compete with. And according to Frued, it is the Latency stage where the kid's sexual urges are repressed. SOmething must have happened during the age of 3-6 to make Shinji fixated in the phallic stage.
Taking this into consideration, since Shinji's mother is dead then him wanting to kill his father would not constitute Frued's Oedipal complex, rather some other sort of psychological disorder in the realm of Early Onset disorders, or some other disorder. |
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imaginary_num6er
 Posts: 53 Location: In the U.S, was in Japan for 18 years |
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Althogh it is not directly related to Oedipal complex, I read from a Japanese site the following:
spoiler[In End of Eva when EVA01 eats Gendo, this is obviously a symbolism of Shinji's will. Although Shinji hates his father, he also accepts him at this time, and eats him to fulfill the love that he never recieved. At the same time, he eats his father to thank him since he said "Thank you father" as in T.V. ep26. In more religious reference, eating someone else or eating something that resembles the meat and blood of someone else (as in Jesus), is a sign of gratitude to that person. Nonetheless, there is no way that Gendo is a symbolism of Christ in End of Eva.] I am just stating this since it is somewhat relevent, but not something that I truly back up... 
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TMBounty_Hunter
Posts: 235 |
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dude, its Gendo not Genda. if it was Genda all those Gend0wned jokes wouldnt work
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The Ramblin' Wreck
Posts: 924 Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love |
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Both, actually. We had to read Freud to understand Herbert Marcuse. Not that it helped much in the end. It came to the point where, at our review session, the professor basically said "If it's the most cynical or depressing thing on the test, chances are it's either Freud or Nietzsche". Good rule of thumb. |
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animedork2075
 Posts: 43 Location: A dark room in California |
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Althoough its a funny question, its my opinion that there is nothing to worry about . Shinji is messed up hates his dad and loves... nobody.
Or did you forget what he did to the world? |
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jfrog
 Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
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You're all forgetting something very important. spoiler[EVA-01, which he usually pilots at least once per episode, contains the soul of Yui Ikari. Not even Oedipus spent that much time inside his mother, if you get what I mean.
 ]
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